CVE-2015-5846 in Watch
Summary
by MITRE
IOKit in the kernel in Apple iOS before 9 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in a privileged context or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted app, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-5844 and CVE-2015-5845.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/19/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-5846 represents a critical flaw within Apple's IOKit kernel framework affecting iOS versions prior to 9.0. This issue resides in the kernel-level IOKit subsystem which serves as the foundation for hardware device drivers and kernel extensions in Apple's operating systems. The vulnerability stems from improper input validation and memory management practices within the kernel's device driver interface, creating a pathway for malicious code execution in a privileged execution context.
The technical exploitation of CVE-2015-5846 occurs through a specially crafted application that leverages memory corruption vulnerabilities within the IOKit framework. Attackers can construct malicious applications that trigger buffer overflows or use-after-free conditions when the kernel processes device driver requests. These memory corruption issues enable adversaries to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code with kernel-level permissions, effectively bypassing the operating system's security boundaries. The vulnerability operates at the kernel level, making it particularly dangerous as it can compromise the entire system integrity and allow persistent access to sensitive system resources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to include potential system instability and complete system compromise. When exploited, the memory corruption can lead to denial of service conditions where the kernel becomes unstable and crashes, or more sinisterly, allows attackers to maintain persistent access to the device. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow) and CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow) indicates that it involves improper handling of memory allocation and deallocation within kernel space. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068 (Local Privilege Escalation) and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) as attackers can leverage the elevated privileges to execute malicious commands and establish persistent footholds.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-5846 primarily focus on updating to iOS 9.0 or later versions where Apple has implemented comprehensive fixes to the IOKit kernel framework. The patch addresses the underlying memory management issues by introducing proper bounds checking and memory allocation validation within the kernel's device driver handling code. Security administrators should also implement application whitelisting policies to prevent installation of untrusted applications that could exploit this vulnerability. Network monitoring solutions should be configured to detect suspicious application behavior patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, regular security assessments of iOS devices should include verification of patch levels and kernel integrity checks to ensure that the vulnerable IOKit components have been properly updated. The vulnerability's relationship to other CVE-2015-5844 and CVE-2015-5845 demonstrates a broader pattern of kernel-level vulnerabilities in Apple's device driver frameworks that required comprehensive remediation efforts across multiple security patches.